Pranav Sriganesh recognized by SAE with Best Oral Presentation
Pranav Sriganesh, PhD candidate and student of Professor Ahmet Selamet, won the 2023 SAE Excellence in Oral Presentation Award at the 2023 SAE International Noise and Vibration Conference and Exhibition. This award is a result of the collective evaluation of the entire audience in the session he presents the paper in. Sriganesh was also recognized with the Best Paper Award at this same conference.
His paper, titled “An Experimental Investigation of the Acoustic Performance of a High-Frequency Silencer for Turbocharger Compressors” provides the proof of concept following his earlier publication in the Noise Control Engineering Journal, where he proposed a novel high-frequency silencer for turbocharger noise with the help of acoustics and flow simulations.
Wave propagation through typical automotive turbocharger ducting becomes multi-dimensional owing to the small wavelengths at high frequencies. In contrast to computer simulations, where all aspects of the flow and acoustic fields are known, the multi-dimensional wave phenomenon makes it very challenging to experimentally determine the in-duct noise level due to its strong dependency on measurement location.
The current work overcomes this challenge with a unique rotating duct setup on the Turbocharger Gas Stand located in the Center for Automotive Research that quantifies the strength of the multi-dimensional sound field from turbochargers. The setup is then used to compare noise levels for turbocharger configurations with and without the novel silencer to reveal a dramatic 15+ dB (decibels) of noise attenuation across a wide target frequency range spanning 4 kHz, from 8 to 12 kHz. The novel silencer achieves this despite being purely reactive, that is, without using expensive and delicate absorptive materials. Therefore, the comprehensive experimental effort discussed in the paper proves that the novel silencer concept is extremely promising not only to tackle turbocharger noise but also a variety of applications requiring high-frequency noise suppression in ducts with flow.
“First theoretically designing a high-frequency silencer through acoustic straightening and then experimentally determining the insertion loss of this noise suppression device subject to multi-dimensional acoustics on a turbocharger bench through sensors installed on a rotating duct are unusually creative scholarly contributions,” said his advisor, Professor Selamet.
“I am happy to receive another recognition for my presentation at the 2023 SAE Noise and Vibration Conference. Thanks to all the attendees for rating my presentation during the Engine and Installed Components session,” said Sriganesh. “I owe it to my advisor, Prof. Selamet, who has been providing me with many tips and tricks over the years to deliver effective presentations. My presentation was also motivated by SAE’s constant encouragement for high-quality presentations with their slogan: “Technology not communicated is technology not done.”
